Vehicle operated door mechanism



3 Sheets-Sheet l Filed oct. 2o', 1934 N, DElvlosTl-IENES VEHICLEOPERATED DOOR MECHANISM Sept. 3, 1935.

Attorney Sept. 3, 1935. N, DEMosTHENEs VEHICLE OPERATED DOOR MECHANISMFiled oct. 2o, 1934 Attorney f ,y .w 8. Q w mw +T MM NW w G m w hx Wuw/f. Wm l .ul|\ |||1||11llLM|A l l l l 1 l l l I l l l I I l l I |l @imu@ @L n -I |||||||||||5mw 1 l l l l l l l 1 ||:-w\|n N hw C sepf- 3,1935- N. DEMosTHENEs 2,013,490

VEHICLE OPERATED DOOR MECHANISM Filed Oct. 20, 1954 3 Sheets--Shee'fl l5@I 74/23 ll/Vf i R. N N N l Inventor A j We/ffme/fs Patented Sept. 3,1935 vOFFICE VEHICLE OPERATED DOOR MECHANISM This invention relates tovehicle operated door mechanism.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide for automaticallyopening and closing vertically swinging doors or gates by utilizing theapproaching Vehicle to perform all of the operations necessary. Y

Another feature of the invention is the 'provision of all operatingparts substantially submerged below the level of the closures so as notto interfere with the use'of the building.

Further objects of the invention are to provide a device of thecharacter referred to that is strong, compact and durable, having veryfew parts that need repair, that is very easily installed in anybuilding, that is comparatively inexpensive to manufacture, and that isthoroughly reliable for its intended purpose.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, this invention consists ofa novel combination, arrangement and construction of parts that will .behereinafter more specifically described and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings and specification, wherein` for the purpose ofillustration is shown the preferred embodiment of the invention, but itis to be understood that changes, variations, and modifications may beresorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention in theclaims hereuntoappended.

In the drawings, wherein like reference characters denote correspondingparts throughout the several views:-

Figure 1 is a perspective View of Va building illustrating an adaptationof the present invention therewith,

Figure 2 `is a top plan view of the operating mechanism in accordancewith the present invention showing the operating platform in 'skeletonform,

Figure 3 is a detailed vertical 'section taken substantially on line 3 3of Figure 2 and look- Ying in the direction of the arrows,

Figure 4 is a detailed vertical section taken substantially on Vline 4 4of Figure 2 but reversed end for end,

Figure 5 is a detailed vertical section taken substantially on line'5--5 of Figure 2 andV looking in the direction of the arrow, Y

Figure 6 is a perspective View of the door o erating lever,

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the adjustable link connection betweenthe crank shaft and the door operating lever, and

Figure 8'is an enlarged fragmentary elevation of the joint between therocker arm and the latch bolt.

Referring to the drawings in detail, I I] indicates a building, in theillustration shown being a garage, and having a pair of outwardlyswinging doors H, l2. The doors swing on a vertical axis. In the runwayI3 leading to the garage isa substantially cruciform housing A which issubmerged in the ground Aas is clearly illustrated in Figure 2 of thedrawings. The' top of the housing is flush with the surface of therunway so that the covering in the vone case, and the yielding platformin the Vother rcase will lie -in the path of the vehicle Wheels as willhereafter appear.

The longitudinal platform trough of the housing is formed in twosections, I indicating the outside section and l5 indicating the sectionthat projectsinto the building IIJ as shown in dotted lines in Figure 1of the drawings. The part of the housing A indicated at I6 is atransverse trough that is positioned directly in front of the swingingdoors Il and I 2 on the outside. The housing A is .preferablyconstructed of wooden boards well creosoted so as to withstand theweather without rotting..V There is a yielding platform covering thelongitudinal trough formed in two sections, the outer platform sectionbeing indicated at Il and the inner platform section being indicated ati8 and the inner section I8 is of less length than the outer Ysectionil. Where the transverse trough l5 joins the longitudinal trough theplatformsections are separated and at this point they are joined by ahinge YIS secured to the under faces of the platform. The hinge I9 isformed with interlocking sleeves that form the bearing 2i! for theoperating shaft as will hereafter appear. VOuter platform section II isyieldinglysupported upon a coil spring `2I near the outer end, whichcoil rspring is supported vertically in the trough I4.

Adjacent the inner end platform section I 'I is supported on anothercoil spring 22 similar in every respect to the coil spring 2l. The innerplatform section i8 is supported on a vertically disposed coil spring 23and all the coil springs arerof the same height so kas to support thesections of the .platform in alignment when not depressed by the weightof a vehicle. Adjacent the outer end platform section l'I isrstraddledby a substantially U-shaped treadle the bight portion 2li of which issunk in a cavity in the platform. One leg 25 of the treadle is formedwith elongated slot 25 that rides up. and down on'a keeper stud 2l. Theother leg 28 of the treadle extends into the trough and is pivoted as at29 to a vertically swinging bell crank 3D which is pivoted at the angleat 3| to the sides of the trough. The lower end of bell crank 3i) ispivoted as at 32 to the outer end of the long, longitudinally disposedlatch rod 33. Near the inner end of platform section I8 there is anothertreadle 34 connected to the bell crank 35 which operates another latchrod 35 and these parts are constructed similarly to the companion partsas described in connection with the outer treadle. Both latch rods 33and 36 move inwardly when the vehicle wheels press down on therespective treadles.

A latch bolt 31 is mounted for sliding movement in the middle of thetransverse trough I6. The latch bolt 31 slides vertically on a pin 38anchored in the side wall of the trough and the pin rides in a slotbetween two tongues 39, 4i). The tongues when the mechanism is in setposition bear against the doors and hold them closed, there being onetongue for each door.

There is a certain amount of play in the latch 31 and to keep itprojected a pivoted detent arm '31a is mounted in the trough. On thelower end of latch bolt 31 is a curved flange 4I that engages hook 42aon the outer free end of the latch rocker shaft 42. The inner end of therocker shaft 42 is formed with a crank portion 43, the center portionofrwhich rotates in a bearing on the upper end of the bridge wall 43a,which bridge wall extends across the juncture of the transverse troughI6. and the sectional longitudinal trough. One end of the crank 43extends into the longitudinal trough and is pivoted as at 44 to theupper end of a flat arm 45.' Flat arm 45 is pivoted adjacent its lowerend as at 46 to the side wall of the longitudinal trough. Arm 45 swingson its pivot 46 in a vertical plane, and above the pivot the inner` endof latch operating rod 36 is pivotally connected as at 41. The inner endof latch rod 33 is pivoted to the lower free end of arm 45 as at 48.Thus the movement of the rod 33 and 36, whichever one is in action,causes arm 45 to rock thereby imparting movement to latch rocker arm 42and causes the latch bolt 31 to move clear of the doors. Mounted in thetransverse trough I6 are a pair of outwardly swinging door operatinglevers 50, 5I which when in the set position are substantially parallelwith each other and lie in the same plane. The confronting ends of thedoor operating levers are spaced apart so as to grip the respectivedoors and swing them outwardly. One of the operating rods 50 is selectedfor particular illustration in Figure 6. Each operating rod has astraight body portion depending from which is a perpendicular bearingportion 52 and on the end of the bearing portion is an inwardly directedextension 53 formed with an opening 54 to receive the outer end of theconnecting link as will soon appear. On the other end of the straightbody portion of the operating levers is fastened a substantiallyU-shaped clamp or clip 55. This clip, one for the end of each lever 5U,5I grips the bottom of the respective doors and moves them outwardlywhen the platform is depressed.

An operating crank shaft is indicated at B and this crank shaft extendslongitudinally of the transverse trough and across the juncture with thelongitudinal trough. Operating crank shaft B is formed with a straightportion 5B adjacent one end and another straight portion 51 adjacent theother end. Intermediate the straight portions ofthe crank shaft there isan integral crank 58 which is journaled in hinge sleeve 20 so that whenthe platforms are depressed crank Vshaft B will rotate.

At each end of the crank shaft are inwardly directed diagonal extensionarms 59 and 60 the ends of which are connected to the adjustableconnecting links 6I, |52 respectively and these links are in turnconnected on the other ends by the eyes to the extension arms on theouter ends of the operating levers 53, 5I.

Each link 5I 52 is formed in the same manner and particularly referringto Figure '7 of the drawings the link 6I will be used in thedescription. The link 5I has a turn buckle body formed with alignedthreaded openings which receive the adjustable bolts 55, 66. The outerends of the bolts are formed with eyes 51 that join the extensions oncrank shaft B and the arms 53 on the door operating levers as will beunderstood by referring to Figure2 of the drawings.

There is one bearing 68 attached to the inner Wall of the transversetrough I6 in which are journaled the bearing portions of operating lever55, while there is a similar bearing 69 for the operating lever 5I.Crank shaft B has three bearings, one of the bearings being indicated at1U mounted on the bearing wall 1I that extends across the transversetrough I6. Adjacent the crank 58 of the crank shaft B are( a pair ofbearings 12, 13, the former being mounted on the top of the bridge wall43a, and the latter mounted on the tcp of the opposed bridge wall 14.

It will be apparent that the crank shaft B lies wholly within thetransverse trough I6. Bearing portions of the operating levers 50, 5Iare also conned within the transverse trough I6 and lie parallel `withthe crankshaft B when the mechanism is in set position.

When a vehicle approaching the building I on the driveway I3 strikes theouter treadle the latch bolt 31 is released by the rod 33 and rocker arm42, the latch bolt being moved free of the doors by rocker arm 42. Asthe weight of the car bears on the outer platform section I1 thisplatform is depressed thereby rotating the crank shaft B which in turnswings the operating levers 53, 5I and these latter levers beingattached to the doors swing them open. When the vehicle is stored withinthe building II) free of the inner platform section I8 the springs 2|,22 operate crank shaft B and the operating levers 50, I will return thedoors to closed position. The treadle is so arranged that it does notoperate to move the latch bolt 31 until the doors are in substantiallyclosed position.

When itis desired to take the vehicle from building Il), the car isbacked onto the inner platform section I8 where latch bolt 31 is againdepressed and inner platform section I8 imparts motion to crank shaft Band swings operating levers 5D, 5I, outwardly thereby opening the doors.When the weight of the car is free of the platform the doors will returnto closed position by the action of the springs 2|, 22 and 23.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. The combination with a pair of closures swinging on a vertical axisof a jointed yielding platform having a part on each side of the doorsand operated by the weight of approaching vehicles, said platformarranged in the path of the vehicle wheels and below the doors, avertically sliding latch bolt, a latch rocker shaft, a latch treadle oneach end of the platform, latch rods connecting the treadles with therocker shaft for moving the latter when the vehicle wheel strikes thetreadle, an operating crank shaft connected with the platform, a pair ofoperating levers connected one with each door, connecting links joiningthe crank shaft with the door operating levers, said crank shaft formedwith a crank intermediate its ends, said crank of the crank shaftjournalled to the joint of the platform.

2. The combination with a pair of closures swinging on a vertical axisof a jointed yielding platform having a part on each side of the doorsand operated by the weight of approaching vehicles, said platformarranged in the path of the vehicle wheels and below the doors, avertically sliding latch bolt, a latch rocker shaft, a latch treadle oneach end of the platform, latch rods connecting the treadles with therocker shaft for moving the latter when the Vehicle wheel strikes thetreadle, an operating crank shaft connected with the platform, a pair ofoperating levers connected one with each door, connecting links joiningthe crank shaft with the door operating levers, said crank shaft formedwith a crank intermediate its ends, said crank of the crank shaftjournalled to the joint of the platform, said connecting links beingadjustable so as to insure proper litting in the doors.

3. The combination with a pair of closures swinging on a vertical axisof a jointed yielding platform having a part on each side of the doorsand operated by the weight of approaching vehicles, said platform.arranged in the path of the vehicle wheels, and below the doors, aVertically sliding latch bolt, a latch rocker shaft, a latch treadle oneach end of the platform, latch rods connecting the treadles with therocker shaft for moving the latter when the vehicle wheel strikes thetreadle, an operating crank shaft connected with the platform, a pair ofo-perating levers connected one with each door, connecting links joiningthe crank shaft with the door operating levers, said crank shaft formedwith a crank intermediate its ends, said crank of the crank shaftjournalled to the joint of the platform, said connecting links beingadjustable so as to insure proper fitting in the doors, and said crankshaft arranged at right angles to the path of the Vehicle and formedwith inward extensions on the outer ends thereof.

NICHOLAS DEMOSTHENES.

